The Welsh language

The Welsh language (called Cymraeg in Welsh) has 28 letters. The Latin alphabet is used (i.e. as in English, French, Polish, etc.), but letters sometimes represent different sounds in Cymraeg. It is this variation that sometimes confuses English speakers when they see "impossible" combinations like bwr or words such as chwyddwydr ('magnifying glass'). Fortunately, the pronunciation of Welsh words is regular and phonetic. Only two sounds, ll and ew, will be difficult to master.

There are no silent letters. Every letter has a sound, and the sound is vocalized in spoken Welsh. The letters J, K, Q, V, X and Z are not included in the Welsh alphabet, but are sometimes found in borrowed words. When present, these letters have their English sounds.

There are regional differences in Welsh pronunciation, but standard Welsh is understood by Welsh speakers everywhere. The pronunciation guide below approximates the Welsh letter sounds by using standard English examples.

Vowels

The vowels are A, E, I, O, U, W, and Y. All the vowels can be lengthened by the addition of a circumflex, properly called acen grom ('convex accent', or 'crooked accent') in Welsh, but often known by the familiar/juvenile name to bach (lit. 'little roof').

a is always as in can, ham, or man, never long as in may. The Welsh words am and ac are pronounced as they would be in English.

e by itself is always as in get, pet, and let. However, the letter E has a different sound in the three diphthongs.

i has the I sound as in bin or pin, or a long E sound as in seen or queen.

o has the O sound as in hot or the long sound as in toe.

u has the sound of long EE, as in see.

w has the sound of OO as in boot and shoot, or of U as in pull. Note, however, that W can also be used as a consonant with the English W sound.

y has two different sounds. In one-syllable words (llyn), and in the last syllable of polysyllabic words (estyn), it is a shortened EE sound as at the end of happy. (Note the different sound in ywy, however). In other contexts (in non-final syllables of polysyllabic words) it is pronounced as the obscure vowel schwa, as in the first syllable of the English word about (e.g. ystyr, pronounced uh s t ii r, where uh represents schwa).

The preceding rules for y apply to South Welsh accents. In areas of North Wales, the non-schwa pronunciation of y is less like English EE and more of a guttural sound, formed further back in the mouth.

Diphthongs

Ae, Ai and Au are all pronounced as English eye.

Aw has the sound of ow as in how and now.

Eu and Ei are pronounced as long A, or the ay sound in say.

Ew is difficult for English speakers because there is no direct equivalent. It is approximately eh-oo or ow-oo, but the correct sound is between those examples.

Iw or I'w is ee-you with the ee sound very short. It is similar to the English yew.

Oe has the sound of Oi or Oy.

Ow is pronounced the same as English row, tow, or throw.

Wy has the sound of oo-ee or a short Wi sound as in win.

Yw or Y'w is the same as Iw above.

Ywy (considered a diphthong even though it has three letters) has the sound of ow-ee as in the name Howie.

Consonants

Bis the same as English B as in beer.

Cis the Welsh K. It is always hard, as in can or cane, never soft as in once.

Chis a glottal Kh sound, as in the Scottish loch.

Dis the same as English D as in dog.

Ddhas the sound of voiced TH, as in this or there.

Falways has the sound of V, as in have or very.

Ffis the same as English F as in first.

Gis always hard as in go or good, never soft as in manage.

Nghas the English NG sound as in singer, though in some words it has the NG+G sound of finger.

His the same as English H, but it is always pronounced, never silent.

Lis the same as English L as in long.

Llis a sound with no English equivalent. It is a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative formed by pronouncing L while allowing air to escape around the tongue; the English thl of athlete (or slat pronounced with a lisp) is vaguely similar.

Mis the same as English M as in many.

Nis the same as English N as in no or never.

Pis the same as English P as in poor or party.

Phis the same as ff

Ris the same as English R as in right, but rolled.

Rhis pronounced as HR; that is, a slight H sound comes before the R sound.

Sis the same as English S as in say.

Siis the same as English Sh as in show.

Tis the same as English T as in turn.

This English voiceless TH, as in think or three. Note difference from the voiced Dd.

W, when used as a consonant, has the English W sound as inwork.

The Welsh alphabet

I’ve set out below the Welsh alphabet and the corresponding English sounds and the approximation.

LETTER

PRONOUNCIATION

a

Long as in ‘mat’

b

Short as in ‘bowl’

c

Hard as in ‘call’

ch

Harder still as in ‘loch’

d

Short as in ‘drive’

dd

Long sound as in ‘that’

e

Short as in ‘elephant’

f

Hard as in ‘every’

ff

Soft as in ‘fancy’

g

Hard as in ‘gutter’

ng

As in ‘angst’

h

As in ‘Harry’

i

Short as in ‘ink’

j

Short as in ‘jam’

l

Short as in ‘long’

ll

Press the tip of your tongue against the front top of the mouth, and blow through the sides of the tongue, this will be easier with a wide mouth, as if smiling.

m

Short as in ‘money’

n

Short as in ‘no’

o

Open as in ‘ostrich’

p

Short as in ‘pink’

ph

Airy as in ‘phenomenal’

r

Vibrating sound with tip of tongue, as in a ‘Rob Roy’

rh

As above followed by a ‘hyh’ sound

s

Short as in a snake’s ‘hiss’

t

Short as in ‘trout’

th

Long sound as in ‘thatch’

u

Long sound as in ‘money’

w

Short sound as in ‘wall’

y

Long sound as in ‘undulating’,but at the end of a word changes to an ‘ee’ sound